Golden with a persistent sheet of white foam and a brilliant clarity. Smells malty, sweet and light bread, tea, cola, candied pecans, touch of german yeast character, a touch of freshly cut alfalfa and a hint of rose. Flavor is floral: malts, slight oxidation, a bit of bread and caramel. There is a ton of flower character in here for me with rose hips, a little bit of hibiscus and orange peel likeness in here. I like the complexity of the flavor, delicate as it is. Medium bodied with limited carb and an almost dry finish. Nice beer, glad how this one has evolved.

T: Much akin to the nose, more alcohol than expected, especially given the age, sweet, creamy, followed by citrus and dried fruit notes

M: Smooth and certainly drinkable, but not exactly cellar worthy, more alcohol than should be present, no aftertaste, not lingering or drying on the palate

O: Not sure what a fresh version tasted like, but not entirely impressive, still true to the style and worth a try, but nothing to write home about (a review on Beer Advocate is a different story, however)

Review from 6/2010 notes. Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a dark orange amber. Strong pop on opening. Light, white head with little lacing. Mild caramel malt and hop aroma. Hop forward with light malt flavor. Peppery, grassy and boozy. Medium, slightly creamy bodied. Not as well integrated as it could have been. A satisfactory, but not remarkable maibock.

Bottle from Friar Tuck's in Savoy, IL
No bottled on date, but "0147614:53" is stamped on bottle
Poured into an Ayinger willi glass

SN's imperial maibock is significantly bold and upfront variation on the style, with robust malt, hop, and ethanol presences. I enjoyed this more than Smuttynose's imperial maibock, though I believe this one could be more highly hopped to counterbalance the massive malts without any ill effect. Also, the ethanol could have been more effectively hidden within a bock's body, though I suppose part of the goal of an imperial anything is to put some emphasis on the ethanol, too. Would I get this again? Sure, it's pretty tasty, but I'd want to have a partner in polishing off the 750ml bottle.

Pours a 2-3cm head of off-white foam, composed of smallish bubbles on bottom with larger and medium-sized bubbles on top. Interesting how this seems to be a fairly common type of head for bock-type lagers. Eventually, the head settles to a 0.5cm cap atop the body. The declining head leaves some modest lacing along the sides of the glass. Body is a nearly opaque copper-orange/red color, fairly dark in hue. Bringing it up to light allows for the orange tones to explode in intensity and lightness, as well as see all the haze in the glass. Carbonation is visible, but very minimal and sluggish.

Aroma is sweetly malty with a bit of buttery diacetyl, notable floral hops, sweet fruity esters, and a faint note of ethanol. The sweetness of the bock is definitely present, but could use a bit more tempering by the hops.

Opens with a bit of lagered bread-like sweetness combined with floral-tasting hops and light fruit esters. Front of palate adds additional details/complexity floral and fruit characters. Mid-palate adds intensity to floral notes, some orange rind, honey, and a bit of spice drop flavor from mid-palate on: can't tell if this is an anise approximation, nutmeg-like phenol, or ethanol. Maintains sweetness mid-palate through close, with ethanol in the back of the palate through the finish, also contributing some warmth at those moments.

Beer is medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation, seems to be meeting expectations for the style. Ethanol is definitely felt in the nostrils and back of throat after a sip, which kind of detracts from the overall enjoyment of the flavors and the qualities of sipping this beer.

A- I got a little...liberal with the pouring, so there is a massive four finger creamy white head sitting on a cloudy reddish gold body. The retention is significant, so I might have to wait a while before I taste. But truly a nice looking beer. Thick lacing.

S- Some cloves and bananas like you would find in a weizen. Floral hops perfume the beer as well. Smells fruity and sugary, more so than I would have expected.

T- Dark flavor with a distinct booziness and some banana notes. Toasted malts and cloves are also present. Very complex beer.

M- Thicker, but the booziness thins the feel out mid drink. Somewhat dry.

O- Very pleased with this beer. Maybe I should have aged it longer, but I'm happy with how it tasted today.

Fills a hand-blown pilsner glass with a clear, dark, golden-amber beer and three inch, puffy, white head that lasts a long while before turning creamy. Lots of sparkling carbonation within and lacing above.

The aroma is crisp and citrusy with lemon and orange. There is background grain as well. With warmth one can perceive pine and caramel.

This bock is surprisingly tart. It is tasty with lots of caramel. Citrus comes out with warmth, all followed with a grainy mild finish.

A medium body and oily texture combine well with fine carbonation and a modest presence of alcohol.

Quite interesting, this works well as a stand-alone while relaxing or in place of a cocktail. Alcohol is a bit high for a session, but it does warm well so you can take your time.

Heavy sweetness is the initial taste (kind of a heavy, dark fruit-like character). It then transitions a fair, mellow bitterness. Finish is rich with some alcohol warmth indicating its relatively high ABV.

Certainly an okay beer, but seems a little ham-fisted for a maibock or helles.

A: Poured from corked, caged 750 ml bottle. The cork would have blown across the room had I not had my hand firmly on the cork. Pours light amber color, good clarity with ample 2.5 finger head.

S: Smells of fresh baked bread and some light citrus hop aroma very slight. I also perceive some alcohol in the nose as well. Is there some vanilla there?

T: Flavor is honey like maltiness with dried plum. There is a fairly heavy sweetness there not cloying though.

M: Heavy carbonation with a dry finish.

O: This is a wonderful bock. I think the age has taken away quite a bit of the hops but I think they were there as I picked them up in the nose slightly and I know SN likes the hop. The sweetness of this beer is well balanced by the heavy carbonation.

A: Pours a beautiful golden color with an amber center and a very hazy appearance, pours with a thin finger of fine off whit lacing which dissipates quickly leaves
S: not much in the way of scent, I'd have to say lemon and whiskey
T: real solid taste, begins with nice vanilla taste, then kicks into a very slight whiskey taste, vanilla lingers on the palate long afterwards
M: smooth and creamy, very very little carbonation
O: one hell of a representation of the style

a nice mellow bock after a bit of aging. pours a rich golden color, bordering on copper in hue. smallish white head. smells german malty, a touch sweet, and a little strong. flavor is smooth as can be, plenty of nice mellow malts without being filling in any way. a toffee like candy flavor in the finish, very autumnal harvest feeling for me. mouthfeel is great, very well blananced, just enough carbonation, and a memorable drinkability. overall a solid beer that has definitely benefited from some time in the cellar. all of the 30th anniversary beers have been excellent

Poured from a 1 pint, 9.4 oz. glass into a pint glass. Color was honey caramel. Decent amount of head, probably 1 ½ ounces. Healthy amount of frothy, white lacing on the top. Very little film on the sides.

Smelled pungent fruit right up front. Seemed to be plum, pears and raisins. Also a touch of honey and caramel malts. Had some mint in there, too, maybe candy cane?

Not much like the nose in the initial taste. I got caramel up front with a dark fruit backbone. Honey seemed to be in there in all aspects. Feel it all on the tongue after, just slightly bitter.

After a money cork pop, the aggressive pour leads to a head that takes off like a mf'r. Bright White foamy head with a light hazy copper color that looks good. Smells like a biscuit with fresh sliced pears on top. A little Belgian tinge to it-which I don't like. Not my usual style, but I'm trying to venture out and explore. Really nice compare to a Lagunitas Bock I had! Taste is real bready, spicy. a banana flavor kinda comes out, but refreshing.
Not my usual style, but glad I picked this up. Can't wait to try the other styles in this series.

Had this bottle sitting in the cellar for a while but felt it'd be better to drink it sooner rather than later so here it goes. Pours a hazy orange body with a bone white head thats dense and slightly sticky and fills up the upper third of the glass.

Aroma is notably sweet up front with hints of toffee but this sweetness steps aside to reveal a strong note of toasted malt. The mild sweetness sticks around in the background though while a nice floral hop character rounds things out, albeit a bit faded.

Bread and grain set up the base for the flavor while nice caramel malt character adds a sweeter note. Hops a slightly floral but probably a bit faded as this bottle is over a year old now. Finishes with just a slight bitter kick and a little umphh from the alcohol.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and pleasantly creamy. Overall, The whole Sierra 30 series was a great success in my opinion. Each beer presented you with a solid representation of topnotch American craft beer and we owe so much to Sierra Nevada and their friends. Not sure about calling this an "Imperial Helles" but hey, I'll happily drink this tasty brew no matter what they call it.

Nice!!!! Don't know why I waited so long to drink this one. Pours a hazy dark orange color from a corked and caged bottle into my Bud Select Pilsner glass. Not much in the way of lacing....big frothy white head with decent retention.

S : the smell is musty and biscuity. some bread and a solid german yeast aroma in the back end.

T: starts a bit sweet and has that nice light bread malt flavor. A tinge of honey sweetness and a good hop bitterness. The hops have a good earthy flavor that stands out better as the beer warms up a bit. Finishes with a good german yeast that is mild and enjoyable.

M : nicely carbed and full flavored. very easy to drink and very little boozy for its high alcohol. finishes crisp and smooth.

A really nice beer. I wasn't expecting it to be as drinkable. Not much else to say here, but I really liked it.